If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire the wrong candidate.

We are not threatening, just reminiscing a fact that would have been inevitable until a few years ago.

The 1990s introduced “computer based examinations” and now the legacy is followed by few of the top most exams held across the world, from SATs, CAT, GRE, etc.

Recruitment industry has had the buzz about online assessments for a long time now, however, before we dive into the details explaining the hype around these tools let us first understand what is an online assessment test.

Online assessment tests are conducted via computers under remotely proctored environment and has the advantage of being authenticated by Subject matter experts (SMEs). Online assessments bring in efficiency of the whole procedure along with immediate feedback. Online examinations are slowly replacing the traditional examination approach. A major highlight of using an online examination system is that it gives a high level of transparency as opposed to the traditional method. Most online exams generate their results instantly and it is often possible for the exam taker to get information on his results immediately. However, one question always lingers back, is it really useful for recruitment?

Online assessments have the benefit of not only being accessible anytime and anywhere there are few more benefits that online assessment brings with itself to assist you in your recruitment process. Such as:

Inbuilt ATS:

One of the major ways that online assessment platform helps in recruitment is having an applicant tracking system (ATS) in place. Most of the platforms in today’s market comes with an inbuilt ATS which helps in tracking the resumes of applicants in a more precise manner and in many cases they filter applications automatically based on given criteria such as keywords, skills, former employers, years of experience and schools attended, etc.

Validation of outcome:

When you opt for a manual examination process there are chances of committing errors while examining the answers. Online assessments ensure validation of the outcomes of the test. The results or reports created are validated for accuracy and efficiency.

Consistent administration:

These tools ensures that there is a standardized administration throughout the test. You can be ensured that all the candidates taking up the test receive consistent administration no matter when they take up the test or from where.

Reduced cost and time:

One of the major concerns while choosing a recruitment procedure is the cost incurred and time spent while conducting the whole process. Fret not, those worries are bygones now. You need not worry about administrator's, compensation for invigilators, equipments, consumable test materials etc.

Similarly the long lost hours taken to go through every candidate’s profile and resumes will be saved as you will get ready made reports as per your requirements. This will bring us to the next point, Reporting and analysis.

Reporting and analysis:

Efficiency and preciseness is what an online assessment tool brings in to the report of a candidate and its analysis. The reports are detailed and analytical in nature where the candidate’s section wise performance is analysed and compiled for you to make a more informed decision.

Before you get overwhelmed with all the details about these pre-assessment tools, take a breather. We are going to take this one step at a time to have a comprehensive understanding about the available tools and how they can boost up your Recruitment procedure.

So you might wonder, all that is being said is happy and gay, but when it actually comes to you, specifically you, you might wonder, why online assessments for your business.
So now in very straight terms, how could online assessments do better for your hiring ?
We will leave that for you to decide,but before that, we would like to educate you on a little something on how to evaluate an individual right. Like the very basic criteria and in the process we will briefly see what is it that Online Assessment measures and how it does so.(http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/online-assessments-to-measure-training-effectiveness)

An American cognitive psychologist, explained, after several iterations, that learning objectives can be written at six levels.

Remembering

By Asking candidates to fill the blanks in a sentence, answer multiple choice questions, and label diagrams. These activities require the learners to recall information acquired.

Understanding

By giving assignments where candidates need to provide a summary of the information learned, using descriptive questions; asking them to classify cases, elements, events and so on, based on set criteria.
You can also present the candidate with problems that require them to identify examples of concepts, principles.

Applying

By presenting candidates with scenarios where candidates need to respond appropriately and simulations where candidates need to execute the steps of a process correctly.

Analyzing

By using case studies where learners are required to identify how the various elements of a business functions are related to each other.

Evaluating

By asking candidates to evaluate performance or products, based on predefined criteria.

Creating

By using online business games and presenting what-if scenarios, where learners need to find new solutions to an organizational problem.

In the upcoming chapter, we will discuss as many HOWs, WHYs and WHATs regarding online assessment platforms, as possible.